


Façade

by TevinterPariah



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Father Figures, Gen, Introspection, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:22:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29462697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TevinterPariah/pseuds/TevinterPariah
Summary: Out of everyone in Arcadia why did it have to be him? Why did it have to be the one of the few male authority figures he had worked so long to let in? At least Mr. Strickler wouldn’t leave like him, but then again, his history teacher was trying to murder him which he’s pretty sure isn’t much better. The more things fall into place, the more he feels the weight of the world on his shoulders as the name, Young Atlas, that the man so fondly calls him rings all the more true. But why him?A Introspective Missing Scene Fic for Post 01x11 “Recipe for Disaster” of Jim coming to terms with Strickler’s betrayal.
Relationships: Barbara Lake & Jim Lake Jr., Barbara Lake/Walter Strickler | Stricklander, Jim Lake Jr. & Walter Strickler | Stricklander
Comments: 10
Kudos: 16





	Façade

**Author's Note:**

> I know I am extremely late to the ballgame here as we already have Wizards and Trollhunters Season 1 was a forever ago. However, I am rewatching the series right now and have a lot of emotions about Mr. Strickler and Jim’s father-son relationship and Stricklake, so here we are.

Out of everyone in Arcadia why did it have to be him? Why did it have to be the one of the few male authority figures he had worked so long to let in? At least Mr. Strickler wouldn’t leave like _him_ , but then again, his history teacher was trying to murder him which he’s pretty sure isn’t much better. The more things fall into place, the more he feels the weight of the world on his shoulders as the name, Young Atlas, that the man so fondly calls him rings all the more true. But why him?

They had almost killed one another in the foyer with the teacher in his true form and he in the armor that has come to be his. They threw knives at one another, figuratively and literally, all the while his mother was blissfully unaware that the, dare he say it, _two_ men in her life were fighting for theirs. As they sparred, any and all bond they had shared before this Trollhunters business was gone from his piercing yellow and red eyes. He was only intent on getting the amulet and whether he remained alive or dead seemed to be inconsequential to the changeling. 

They were nemeses now and while he had gained a surrogate father in Blinky, as the changeling had deduced, but he had lost one in Mr. Strickler, so it would seem. Ever since he had confided in the teacher about his living situation when his mother had come down with a terrible flu in his freshman year and he had failed both his test and oral presentation on the Mesopotamian unit, Mr. Strickler had looked out for him. Whereas Señor Uhl was unforgiving on deadlines, Mr. Strickler had made exceptions on deadlines in rough weeks when his favorite student needed them, trying to ensure could spend more time sleeping at home instead of in class. His teacher developed an uncanny ability to sense when things were going wrong in his life and always provided an empathetic ear and sound advice whenever he was called into the teacher’s office. He always looked up to the man— Well, he supposes changeling now— but now it feels impossible to.

How is he supposed to feel any respect for someone trying to bring back Gunmar’s return? And more importantly, how could he ever feel anything but revulsion for someone who is using his mother, the _one_ thing that matters to him more than anything else, to get to him? They had a reason to be at odds, considering they were on opposing sides regarding a conflict of apocalyptic proportions. Bringing his mom into it was as low a blow as Rule #3, and they both knew it, and by Merlin does it hurt. 

He hasn’t seen her this happy in a long while, she hadn’t seen anyone since his dad left and that had been over a decade now. She was too busy working her way through medical school and working at the hospital for anyone except the child she was forced to raise on her own. His mom was smiling more, infatuated with his teacher as he is Claire, and it sickens him to his core to know she is being used. She doesn’t know he’s a liar and she certainly doesn’t know he’s a changeling, which he wouldn’t be able to explain even if he tried. Instead, she knows him as her son’s favorite teacher. And considering he is the most important thing in his mom’s world, whether he likes it or not, anyone who has endeared themselves enough to her son that much has already won her over. So much so, that when he tried to tell her to not see his teacher again she was disappointed in him, despite the fact he’s only trying to protect her. He cannot see her hurt again, not like this. Not by _him._

He’s not sure how long it will take to process the fact that the one man he had started to see as a father figure actually was not a man. Instead, he’s a changeling who is courting his mother to try and get close enough to steal the amulet and kill him if necessary. Or how he’ll try to come to terms with the fact that the teacher who showed nothing but care could show him nothing but animosity so soon after learning his secret. It makes it question if all his teacher’s former concern was truthful or the changeling is just an incredibly skilled actor. 

Tonight it was as if some sort of façade dropped. His teacher wasn’t kind: he was ambitious, cunning, manipulative, and ruthless. He was willing to kill children he had come to teach without hesitation to bring about the end of the earth, when a few weeks ago the Trollhunters would have said the teacher would nary harm a fly. He cannot bear to even sort through the implications of it all, and that yet again he had been disappointed by father, blood or other. 

And to top it all off, he has history with said source of his torment first thing tomorrow morning. _Great._


End file.
